


The 'why's and 'what-if's

by halfpastmonsoon



Category: Ookiku Furikabutte | Big Windup!
Genre: Drabble, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Mostly talking, hot day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-04-20 19:42:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14268186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halfpastmonsoon/pseuds/halfpastmonsoon
Summary: Mihashi and Kanou have a conversation about the why's and what-if's of the past





	The 'why's and 'what-if's

‘Shuu-chan…’

Kanou opened one eye, but he didn’t have the energy to do anything else, like humming in response or turning his head towards Mihashi. To be fair, he wasn’t exactly in good shape.  
That was the day they chose for what Mihashi called ‘talking about things’, since they were both free for a moment, which was so rare it had to be taken advantage of. It also, however, happened to be quite a hot day, which greatly reduced their ability to speak.  
There was always silence, though.  
And ice cream.  
The latter, however, was gone already.

Which is why Kanou was currently lying in Mihashi’s bed, next to him, actually. Both of them were wearing nothing but loose t-shirts and the shortest shorts they could find.  
Kanou finally brought himself to make a noise to indicate he is listening. At last, their conversation is starting. It might make the weather less insufferable.  
‘I have already…thanked you for telling me to…not quit, back then, but…’ he gulped, and Kanou didn’t interrupt him, just waited, patiently as per usual. ‘I’ve been meaning to…ask you…why…’  
Kanou sat up slowly and stretched his arms. There was no hurry. He could wait for the rest of the question that was definitely coming. In the meantime he could as well stop melting and do something relatively productive. He was still not looking at Mihashi.

‘Why did you want me to keep playing?’  
Kanou paused. There it was. The question he never really considered Mihashi would want to ask. Wasn’t it obvious…?  
‘You were…the only person who really…told me I can’t quit and…I don’t really understand why…’  
‘I wanted to play against you, of course.’ He glanced at Mihashi and noticed his face went kind of pale. Kanou chuckled and turned around to fully face him. ‘That wasn’t really the answer. I mean, in a way.’ He wasn’t a person who was fond of being vague. He was perhaps a bit too straightforward. But at the same time, when he was to explain something, he enjoyed giving out pieces of information instead of the whole thing at once.

You had to be straight with Mihashi, though.  
‘I wanted to see you play with people who actually bring out your potential. Or not even see you. I just wanted that to happen.’ He ruffled his own hair. It was hard to maintain eye contact when the other side was doing everything to avoid it. It wasn’t particularly helpful for forming thoughts. He was used to it, though. ‘You have a lot of potential. You are talented. I didn’t want that to go to waste just because our team failed to see that.’  
He crossed his arms and kept watching Mihashi. That was all he had to say so far. Wonder what the response will be. You could never know with him, really, but Kanou was ready for anything.

‘But…’ here we go ‘what if…what if it didn’t…turn out like this.’ Mihashi sat up straight and finally looked Kanou in the eyes, his hands clenched into fists, his expression serious and quite…he wouldn’t call it excited. But it seemed like he found the issue very important. That description works, Kanou noted as he tried to focus on the words again.  
‘What if my…new team hated me, too?’ He gulped and leaned slightly forward. ‘What if I…were treated badly just because of…what I did…’ He paused for a moment. Kanou didn’t move at all and his expression didn’t change, either. He was waiting ‘There are…so many things that could have gone wrong…didn’t you…have any doubts?’  
‘No.’ Kanou replied without hesitation. He smiled and took one of Mihashi’s hands into his own, still looking into his eyes. ‘I believed in your strength! I believed I have to be right about this! You’ve always been amazing and I knew anybody who’d see your fastball would HAVE to notice that!’  
He let go of Mihashi’s hand. ‘There…had to be at least one person on any other team who’d notice. It really is impressive to everyone except for them. I’m still impressed, even though I’ve seen it so many times.’

For quite some time during the speech Mihashi was blushing and squirming. He probably wanted to protest. Or say something else. Who knew. But Kanou didn’t stop talking, even though he acknowledged the reaction.  
‘It was the catcher, wasn’t it?’  
Mihashi cocked his head to the side. If this were a cartoon, he’d surely have a question mark over his head.  
‘I mean, the person who noticed your fastball.’  
‘Oh!’ Mihashi nodded his head eagerly. ‘Yeah! Abe-kun said we can um…’ he tried to recall the wording ‘sort of…trick people with it. Make it seem like it’s…floating!’  
Kanou smirked. Those were pretty much his words. The ones spoken to Oda during the game. The words he’s been aware of for a few years now. He’s got to be observant…  
‘Your catcher seems to be good.’  
‘Abe-kun…is…amazing!’

Kanou chuckled. Thank God. He knew how important it is to have a good catcher. He almost groaned, remembering the fact Hatake still can’t catch his deep forkball.  
‘Your team is even better than what I hoped for, from what I’ve seen.’ And from what you’ve told me, he added in his head.  
Mihashi nodded again, but he stopped suddenly. ‘Um…’  
Kanou wiped the sweat off his forehead. He almost stopped noticing the heat…but it still was quite awful.  
‘Shuu-chan, would you…want to meet the rest of the team uh…casually?’  
Kanou considered. It probably wouldn’t hurt, he thought.  
‘They know about our…rivalry and all…’  
Kanou nodded his head slowly. Why not.  
‘I called Shuu-chan Shuu-chan once in front of…a teammate…and he asked me who it is…’ Mihashi chuckled at the memory.  
‘I can meet them later,’ Kanou murmured as he stretched his arms once again ‘but now I’m here to hang out only with you, so let’s focus on that.’

He leaned back again and patted the other half of the bed.

Before Mihashi got to lie down next to him again, Kanou’s eyes were already closed.

That was exhausting.

No wonder they were both asleep within 5 minutes time.


End file.
